Tunisia: Understanding Conflict 2012 - Johns Hopkins School of ...

to participate as a citizen in a democracy. However the main obstacle that they face is
that neither they nor Tunisia’s older generation have confidence in their ability to
participate in the government. This lack of confidence has resulted in a government that
is almost exclusively controlled by politicians with an average age greater than 55 years
old. In response, many youth distrust the government because of its failure to reflect their
values and ideals, and put the onus of representative rule in the hands politicians that they
feel are out of touch, yet are the only ones qualified for the job (SAIS Group Meeting,
Tunis, 24 January 2012). This perception of their collective lack of experience, whether
true or not, is creating a vicious cycle in Tunisian politics that discourages youth from
voting. They feel distant from the politicians who aim to serve them, yet seek no active
role in government because they presume that they are not qualified to participate.
Even though the youth have psychologically distanced themselves from actively
operating within the government, they still seek other means for channeling their political
will. Up until now, this paper has suggested that the youth have become apathetic toward
politics in Tunisia. Once they decided to bicker among each other, political parties had
lost the youth’s attention, and lost touch with their needs for dignity, justice, and the
means to improve their lives. But apathy does not accurately explain the current state of
the youth in Tunisian politics. Despite their distrust in the formal system so far, many
have channeled their political will through activism online and through civil society.
Since the fall of Ben Ali, there has been an explosion in civil society organizations, and
many of them are led by youth seeking to improve the quality of their lives (SAIS Group
Meeting, Washington DC, 5 December 2011). Under Ben Ali, society was closely
monitored, and any organization that sought change contrary to the regime might face
persecution. But almost overnight, thousands of civil society organizations, ranging from
charity organizations that help the poor like Free Sight, to transparency and corruption
watchdog organizations like “I Watch” sprang up, as if out of nowhere. Where youth feel
their demands have not been properly addressed by politicians, they have created
organizations to seek direct action themselves. The real challenge is gathering all of this
positive dialogue and participation and transferring it to the traditional, formalized sphere
of party politics. For Tunisia’s democratic transition to be successful, the politicians need
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